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Am I delusional to think this Tinnitus might go away?

98 replies

AFridgeHummingInMyEar · 09/01/2026 20:57

About a month ago, during a time of extreme stress, I suddenly developed tinnitus: loud ringing in both ears (each with a different tone). I went to the GP, he couldn't see anything inside my ears due to wax buildup. Two private microsuction attempts, weeks apart with olive oil and bicarb drops in between, failed because it was so painful and the wax was so hard. So now the GP said they will refer me to ENT, but it will take months to be seen.

In the meantime the ringing in my ears screeched day and night and wouldn't let me sleep. About a week ago it suddenly changed to be less ring-y and more like a low fridge-like drone mostly localised in the more blocked ear (but sometimes it feels like it's in the middle of my head). This can be even more intrusive and annoying than the ringing.

Everything I read about Tinnitus says it's permanent, there's no cure etc. Am I delusional to think it may go away once the wax is dealt with, even if it's been here for a month already? Has anyone else had the same and got better? And what can I do to help the earwax problem myself if olive oil, bicarb and microsuction have failed?

OP posts:
LostittoBostik · 09/01/2026 21:06

It doesn’t go away but it does quieten. Mine started with an antibiotic, but I’ve had it for over 10 years now. I probably had existing hearing damage due to going to lots of gigs without earplugs (including MBV, for those who know…. 😵‍💫)

Anyway I now only notice it when I turn off the light in bed and everything else is silent. Otherwise it’s totally blotted out by my brain. Hang in there.

AFridgeHummingInMyEar · 09/01/2026 21:18

LostittoBostik · 09/01/2026 21:06

It doesn’t go away but it does quieten. Mine started with an antibiotic, but I’ve had it for over 10 years now. I probably had existing hearing damage due to going to lots of gigs without earplugs (including MBV, for those who know…. 😵‍💫)

Anyway I now only notice it when I turn off the light in bed and everything else is silent. Otherwise it’s totally blotted out by my brain. Hang in there.

Thank you, it's great to hear yours quietened and it doesn't bother you anymore! I'm holding hope mine is caused by the wax impaction, do you think that's not possible?

OP posts:
DinoLil · 09/01/2026 21:19

You kind of get used to it. Welcome to the club!

Helpwithdivorce · 09/01/2026 21:20

You get used to it. It’s always there in the background. But you just learn to tune out of it

wantmorenow · 09/01/2026 21:27

I have had bouts of tinnitus related to stress and they have gone away when stress did. Ditto vertigo. Mine was more a constant whooshing but did go away when I left teaching only to return again when I went back. Luckily gone again now.

ChubbyPuffling · 09/01/2026 21:33

First rule of tinnitus... DON'T THINK ABOUT TINNITUS.

The minute you think about it it becomes loud and all encompassing.

FlyingPinkUnicorn · 09/01/2026 21:35

I only noticed mine when it’s completely silent or when I think about it. Otherwise, I’m able to tune it out.

BearPear · 09/01/2026 21:35

Mine started with menopause and it’s a constant ringing just like after you’ve been to a loud gig. I can usually tune it out but sometimes it’s really annoying and it makes me a bit anxious.

JustGotToKeepOnKeepingOn · 09/01/2026 21:41

Mine started with menopause too. I can ignore it most of the time and do think it’s sad that I’ll never hear silence again but it is what it is. You get used to it.

AFridgeHummingInMyEar · 09/01/2026 21:47

wantmorenow · 09/01/2026 21:27

I have had bouts of tinnitus related to stress and they have gone away when stress did. Ditto vertigo. Mine was more a constant whooshing but did go away when I left teaching only to return again when I went back. Luckily gone again now.

Very encouraging to hear, thank you! Glad that you're less stressed now. My stress is linked to family obligations so will likely stick around for a while.

OP posts:
TryingAgainAgainAgain · 09/01/2026 22:01

It absolutely can go away. Mine has 95% or
so. Perhaps see another very experienced audiologist privately re your wax?

IthinkIamAnAlien · 09/01/2026 22:01

I have periodic tinnitus, I've had it for about 10 years. It's often related to stress or lack of sleep, also to my neck and shoulders being racked by stress. A massage or treatment by an osteopath or acupuncture might help.
I've never found treating my ears in any way helpful.

ChubbyPuffling · 09/01/2026 22:05

My tinnitus is a blessing in some ways as I suffer with misophonia, if I focus on the tinnitus, I can dim the rage created by someone clicking a pen repeatedly for instance.

insomniac1 · 09/01/2026 22:13

I had puslitise tinnitus and it has gone away!

AFridgeHummingInMyEar · 09/01/2026 22:44

TryingAgainAgainAgain · 09/01/2026 22:01

It absolutely can go away. Mine has 95% or
so. Perhaps see another very experienced audiologist privately re your wax?

That's great to hear about your T! Did it fade away gradually, or just go away in one go?
I'll be trying again privately for sure.

OP posts:
KilkennyCats · 09/01/2026 22:49

Yes, mine (that followed an ear infection) had disappeared completely by six weeks.
Don’t despair!

TryingAgainAgainAgain · 09/01/2026 23:42

AFridgeHummingInMyEar · 09/01/2026 22:44

That's great to hear about your T! Did it fade away gradually, or just go away in one go?
I'll be trying again privately for sure.

It was gradual. I kept realising that it wasn’t bothering me and that I’d have to really concentrate to hear anything.

Re audiologists, my dad had one who took two appointments to get his earwax out, turned out she’d only just finished her training… eek. Whereas my mum now sees a guy who is so professional and experienced that I would absolutely trust him to be able to deal with a tricky case and judge if there was some additional issue making it impossible in a non-hospital setting. He’s with this company:

https://www.thcp.co.uk/find-a-practice

Was going to say no idea if they generally have high standards, but I’ve just checked and they have barely any negative reviews on Trustpilot, which is rare.

Hearing Centres, Audiologists & Hearing Aids Near Me | THCP

Find a friendly audiologist and hearing centre near you. At the Hearing Care Partnership, we’re open and here to help with all your hearing care needs.

https://www.thcp.co.uk/find-a-practice

NewspaperTaxis · 10/01/2026 00:05

I have found the term tinnitus unhelpful because it means 'ringing in your ears' and that can be caused by all kinds of things. It's like 'pain in your leg' - it could be anything, some worse than others.

I understand that some tinnitus is permanent, that is if the tiny hairs in your ears are damaged via loud noise

Others such as the type I've got is manageable and frankly can just go in time, I've found. It was brought on when I went on the Atkins diet a decade or more ago - it was high protein and generally unhealthy, if done with a drink in the evening. Some tinnitus is brought on with flu and I felt rundown and unhealthy - I would walk up two flights of stairs in my flatshare and feel knackered and really really thirsty, I could down two or three pints of water. I think this was trying to flush it out of my system. At the time I thought at first the noise was ringing water pipes.

I handled it - and I guess this isn't official advice - with a Neurofen before bed which I modified to two Paracetamol. Obv stick to two Paracetamol maximum, don't think if you have more it will make it better, you will just damage yourself. Don't do this if you are already on Lemsip, which is Paracetamol anyway. It seemed to be unnoticeable during the day but the noise emerged only as I went to bed. Partly because of the silence at that time but also because your body temperature rises and so any latent infection picks up the pace then. Hence, the Paracetamol is meant to reduce your body temperature. The tinnitus might also intensify briefly as you lie down, it may affect your body's state or balance or something.

Back then I would play some light ambient music on Vol 2 or about that on the CD player across the room, it just externalises things so you are not hearing the slight ringing sound, there is something out there instead.

I think the tinnitus may also have been brought on by getting the flu jab when I was at a low ebb and not ill but not tip top. This occurred to me last year also - I got it when I was not ill exactly but had a few bugs in the system - and I didn't get the flu jab this year - this is just a personal thing however and I am in no way anti-vac.

The tinnitus website when I looked at it years ago said the condition was permanent but while it is for some, I got the impression they were saying that to raise funds for research, I found it really off-putting to say the least.

Mine did disappear, it flared up in the last year however but is manageable. Eggs and cheese are triggers to avoid, I found, along with alcohol (the stronger the worse, I was drinking port a decade ago, I must have been nuts) and caffeine - I am on decaf these days and that's fine, esp with milk. Intense high protein, perhaps is to be avoided.

Excess ear wax may be a thing, there are other threads on its removal.

NewspaperTaxis · 10/01/2026 03:00

Oh, another cause which typing that long post might have reminded me of.

What prompted it years ago was being on the laptop PC, literally on my lap, for some hours at night. Now, this might possibly be caused by Wi-Fi connections messing me around, generally I'm not affected by that stuff and don't know much about it. I do recall years later when I was physically rundown and stressed that I learned not to charge my basic mobile phone up beside me at night because I'd wake with night sweats; when I switched it off I didn't get night sweats.

But the main cause I think came from posture; I think there is a muscle or tendon or something running from your ear along your jawline and if that becomes inflamed, that can cause tinnitus. So avoid looking at your laptop for hours in the evening. Prevention is better than cure but you could try to massage your jawline a bit or try relaxing it if you realise it is tense, that sounds annoying advice if you think the tinnitus is the very thing making your jaw tense, but one thing can play upon another.

Visiting a sauna is another bit of advice, this is dubious. It may flush out toxins in your body or who knows, melt the ear wax if that is a problem. That all said, if it raises your body temperature and that is the very thing exacerbating your tinnitus, it could briefly make it worse of course.

These tips are largely based on the idea that your tinnitus is slightly flu-related and not caused by damage to the tiny hairs in your ear; that all said avoiding loud noise, noisy gigs without ear plugs, or noisy headphones is probably good advice in either case.

Mudflaps · 10/01/2026 03:10

Mine started in my early 40's, used to drive me nuts, I never considered it was a menopause symptom until it vanwithin days of starting hrt. It reappears if I miss my daily dose .or than once but quickly quietens again once I get back on track with applying my hrt.

DogsandFlowers · 10/01/2026 03:14

Acupuncture really helped mine xx

mjf981 · 10/01/2026 06:59

AFridgeHummingInMyEar · 09/01/2026 20:57

About a month ago, during a time of extreme stress, I suddenly developed tinnitus: loud ringing in both ears (each with a different tone). I went to the GP, he couldn't see anything inside my ears due to wax buildup. Two private microsuction attempts, weeks apart with olive oil and bicarb drops in between, failed because it was so painful and the wax was so hard. So now the GP said they will refer me to ENT, but it will take months to be seen.

In the meantime the ringing in my ears screeched day and night and wouldn't let me sleep. About a week ago it suddenly changed to be less ring-y and more like a low fridge-like drone mostly localised in the more blocked ear (but sometimes it feels like it's in the middle of my head). This can be even more intrusive and annoying than the ringing.

Everything I read about Tinnitus says it's permanent, there's no cure etc. Am I delusional to think it may go away once the wax is dealt with, even if it's been here for a month already? Has anyone else had the same and got better? And what can I do to help the earwax problem myself if olive oil, bicarb and microsuction have failed?

These are the exact sounds I have! And I agree that the fridge hum is so much worse than the ringing tone for some reason.

I'm 8 months in and got mine from an infection. Its driven me round the bend and seemed almost worse over Xmas. However, since new year it seems to getting quieter so I"m crossing everything I have I'm on the right trajectory. I'll be honest - its the hardest things I've ever been through and the thought of having it forever is very depressing.

DemonsandMosquitoes · 10/01/2026 08:04

I’ve had pulsatile tinnitus for over three years. It’s constant. I can tell you my heart rate just by listening. MRI clear. It hasn’t gone away and it hasn’t gone quieter. No idea of the cause.

Aweekoffwork · 10/01/2026 08:13

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can help by way of changing negative thought patterns thereby reducing stress. If you have family obligations it might be worth focusing on what they are, what your expectations are and those of your family.

Tinnitus often disappears when the stress dissipates..but also you can train your brain to not notice it as much

Owly11 · 10/01/2026 08:15

Keep going with the bicarb. It will work eventually. Don't bother with the olive oil.

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